The European Parliament is set to debate a no-confidence motion against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, with a vote expected on Thursday, according to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF.
The motion, initiated by Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, criticizes von der Leyen for a lack of transparency regarding text message exchanges with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the COVID-19 pandemic. These messages reportedly related to the procurement of vaccines have never been made public.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola confirmed that the motion had gathered the required 72 signatures, meeting all procedural requirements for discussion and voting in a plenary session. For the motion to pass, it would need a two-thirds majority of votes cast and the support of an absolute majority of MEPs—at least 361 members.
If successful, the vote would force not only von der Leyen but the entire European Commission to resign.
Such an outcome would be unprecedented in recent EU history, with the only comparable case occurring in 1999, when the Santer Commission stepped down amid a damaging report on financial mismanagement and fraud.
The controversy intensified after the EU’s Court of Justice ruled in mid-May that the European Commission had failed to provide a satisfactory justification for withholding the vaccine-related texts. The court emphasized that, under EU law, all official documents must be accessible to the public.
The upcoming vote marks a critical moment for von der Leyen’s leadership just as the EU navigates a complex geopolitical and economic landscape ahead of the next Commission term.
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